Aspartame doesn't raise risk of cancer

A huge study involving 340,045 men and 226,945 women, ages 50 to 69, found that the artificial sweetener aspartame doesn't raise the risk of cancer.

You've probably already heard one or more times that light products like Cola Light increase the risk of getting cancer, but according to the study this is false as aspartame, which replaces sugar, doesn't have nasty side-effects.

No increased risk was seen even among people who gulped down many artificially sweetened drinks a day, said researchers who studied the diets of more than half a million older Americans.

A consumer group praised the study, done by reputable researchers independent of any funding or ties to industry groups.

"It goes a fair way toward allaying concerns about aspartame," said Michael Jacobson, head of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, which had urged the government to review the sweetener's safety after a troubling rat study last year.